Chapter 557: Grey Spine Inflammation
"Boss Li! You're too anxious," said Chen Yu gently tapped on the scroll. The pine wood scroll, which was of poor quality, instantly cracked.
He then slowly tore it open from the seam, and before long, one painting became two.
On the surface, it indeed was a Han Dynasty banquet scene, a replica from the Republican era, but the one beneath it was the genuine "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," evident from the seal at the corner, likely hand-drawn by Emperor Huizong, Zhao Ji.
"My heavens, isn't that the lost painting?" someone exclaimed.
"They said it was destroyed during the Jingkang Incident. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime," another voice joined in.
"The craftsmanship is exquisite, truly Emperor Huizong's own hand. Such a priceless treasure would start at at least a hundred million at an outside auction," commented another.
"Looks like Boss Li has lost the bet!" yet another concluded.
...
The scene boiled over with excitement, and all eyes were on Boss Li.
With a box made of Dragon Xiang wood and a painting by Emperor Huizong himself, these two items could fetch at least half a billion if put up for sale.
Chen Yu stuffed the items into Boss Li's hands, then proceeded to shove the prepared banknotes and gold drafts into his bag.
"Boss Li, our business is settled. Until next time!" Chen Yu said before Boss Li could react.
Without waiting for a response, Chen Yu took the young man back to the garage, started the car, and drove to the outskirts of the city's south side.
Though Sky Sand City stood affluent at the heart of the desert, there were clear social divisions. The truly rich were the high and mighty administrators, while most ordinary citizens struggled for basic sustenance.
The young man's home was located in a slum, where not even parking space was available; Chen Yu found an empty spot near a garbage dump to park the car.
As he followed the young man into the slum, a mix of strange smells hit him so strongly that even he almost vomited.
After winding through countless turns, they finally arrived at a dilapidated little house.
The place lacked doors and windows and was breezy all around.
In the desert, where the weather is unpredictable—scorching by day and freezing at night—survival in such a ramshackle dwelling was fortunate.
In a makeshift bed made of bricks and planks lay a girl with a slightly hunched figure.
Severe kyphosis had already twisted her body, and her complexion was extremely pale.
When Chen Yu saw the girl, his brows furrowed in concern. Not only did she suffer from kyphosis, but she was also afflicted with at least thirty complications.
If these complications erupted at the same time, the girl wouldn't survive a day.
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Chen Yu surveyed the surroundings and looked at the girl lying in the bed, exhaling deeply.
"Isn't there a hospital in such a big city?" he asked.
The young man didn't know how to respond.
All the medical facilities in the city were essentially for the wealthy. For slum dwellers like them, even setting foot inside was out of the question. For mundane illnesses, they had to rely on local quacks.
Chen Yu immediately caught the thoughts in the young man's head. Without saying another word, he patted the young man's shoulder, then pulled over a stool and sat down by the bed.
Ankylosing spondylitis was indeed a formidable disease for modern medicine; once contracted, it caused irreversible damage to the body.
It could only be managed with a special medication administered through a monthly injection.
That might be feasible for wealthy families, but how could an ordinary family like the one before him afford seven hundred thousand a month?
However, for Chen Yu, this disease was actually not too much trouble, as he had cured similar cases before.
He took out several silver needles from his person and inserted them into the girl's back along the acupoints, one by one.
Before long, the girl's back was filled with densely packed silver needles.
Chen Yu then raised his finger to the back of the girl's head, and a large amount of blue-white electric light surged into her.
The girl, who had been curled up, seemed to come to life, gradually stretching out, and even her wrinkled skin regained its color.
The young man standing beside became immediately excited, his eyes brimming with hope.
After removing all the silver needles, Chen Yu wiped the sweat from his brow and wrote out a prescription.
"If you want your sister to recover fully, she must take these medicines in addition to the treatment!"
When the young man received the prescription, his complexion immediately turned ugly. The medications listed were all expensive, with each costing several thousand; he simply couldn't afford them.
Chen Yu frowned and patted his shoulder.
"What's the matter with you, kid? Didn't I just give you a billion-dollar note? What, are you reluctant to spend it?"
The young man then realized what had happened.
Just about to leave to fill the prescription, he suddenly stopped, looking at Chen Yu with a strange expression.
"Sir, are you a natural superpower? How do I feel like you can see right through my thoughts?"
Chen Yu did not explain anything but urged the young man to hurry and fill the prescription.
No sooner had the young man left when a group of raggedly dressed children surrounded the entrance.
"Are you the doctor Ba Wan hired?"
Chen Yu looked up, covered all the people in front of him with the system, then nodded.
"It is a doctor! Did you cure Ba Xiu's sister's illness?"
Chen Yu nodded and waved to the children in front of him.
"It seems you all have the same illness. Come in, let me take a look at you."
The children all seemed shy and hesitant to go in first. Only a boy around seventeen or eighteen years old walked in without hesitation and stretched out his wrist to Chen Yu.
Chen Yu gently checked his pulse and found an artificial toxin in the boy's body.
He stood up and took the pulses of the other children one by one, discovering the same toxin present in all of them.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Chen Yu suddenly had an idea.
"Where do you usually drink water from?"
All the children raised their arms together, pointing towards a water tower not far away.
Chen Yu went to take a look. The water tower seemed to be a community-built facility in the shantytown, with three sources of water: rainwater, nearby river water, and an underground stream that ran close by.